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Abstract

The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 would have a profound impact on the United Kingdom in the immediate years of the crisis, and in the decade following. The decade of 2010-20 has often been referred to as the decade of austerity, and the implementation of austerity by the Conservative Party in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis will impact Britain for many years long after the conclusion of the Financial Crisis. This dissertation will explore the theory of austerity and how it came to be the dominant economic policy in Britain - understanding how the Global Financial Crisis occurred and how it impacted the United Kingdom. It will suggest the main factor of why austerity was introduced after 2010 general election was to alleviate the British economy that had suffered during the Financial Crisis. However, it will suggest that conservative ideology was also a factor of pursuing austerity, to achieve the theory of the ‘Big Society’. This dissertation will be divided into four chapter: the first will investigate the austerity theory and the origins of the Global financial crisis, the second chapter will review the reactions by the two major political parties to solving the economic crisis and cover why the Conservative Party would pursue the policy of austerity, the third chapter will elaborate how austerity was implemented during the decade of 2010-20 with a specific coverage on welfare reform, whilst the fourth chapter will analyse how austerity has impacted both the United Kingdom’s economy and society. The dissertation will conclude that austerity has had positive short-term effects of the British economy but has negatively impacted the British economy and society in the long-term, suggesting that austerity should be pursued in moderation by governments so that lasting damage will not occur.

Course: International Relations and Politics - BA (Hons) - C0694

Date Deposited: 2022-02-18

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13834.html